Uni-link
Unilink is the branded bus service operated under contract and serving the University of Southampton in Hampshire, England. The service was created in 1998 following the University's expansion onto several new campuses, requiring new transport links between them. The current contractor of the service is Bluestar, part of the Go-Ahead Group, who took over in 2008. The service also encourages use by members of the public outside the university community. History Foundations The foundations for the service began with the opening of the Southampton Oceanography Centre in 1996. Located in Southampton Docks, this was the first of the University's campuses that were not either within walking distance of the main campus or were self-contained (whose students had no need to travel to a different campus – Winchester School of Art and Southampton General Hospital being the main examples). As a result, the University launched the student only shuttle service to serve the new campus. The service ran every half-hour with one service every hour running by Avenue Campus while the other ran by Portswood. The service was run by the University's Business Services division. First Southampton In 1998, the University made a three-year agreement with local operator First Southampton to run a new bus service under the Uni-link name. First's service launched on 21 September 1998 and saw the introduction of three new routes, 101, 102 and 103, operated under the uni-link branding. First also rerouted their 4, 6, 11, 13 and 20 routes so that they would run closer to the University allowing better connections with other areas of Southampton. The company also ran two night services, labelled the 104 and the 105. Minerva Accord In 2001, as the University's agreement with First finished, the University made some changes to the service following some dissatisfaction and some bad experiences with the service. The University made Uni-link a company itself and awarded the operation of this service under contract. The first contract winner was Minerva Accord, who started their 5-year contract at the beginning of the 2001/2002 academic year. At launch, the company ran two main routes, the U1 and the U2, with a number of smaller routes and variations also in existence. Later in the life of the company, Uni-link launched the U6 and the U9 routes. As some of these routes, especially the U1, was used very heavily the company received various grants that allowed their fleets to expand. The company added its last route in September 2005 when it was awarded a five-year contract by Southampton City Council to run the City-link service shuttle service in Southampton city centre. This nearly doubled their passenger numbers, adding one million passengers per annum. Uni-link also began trials of articulated buses and Wi-Fi on some of their fleet during 2007. Bluestar In 2008, local bus company Bluestar were named as the winners of the next ten-year contract to run the service. The service launched on 29 September 2008, coinciding with the new university year. The new company used a fleet composed mainly of new vehicles. In 2012, free Wi-Fi was installed on all Uni-link and Bluestar buses as a result of a £4.5 million investment from Transport for South Hampshire. In July 2013, Uni-link changed their smartcard system to 'the key' smartcard that adheres to ITSO specifications and is currently used by several other companies owned by the Go-Ahead Group. The smartcard allowed Uni-link pass holders access onto Bluestar's central Southampton services (and vice versa) and allowed for greater deals with other Go South Coast operators. However it meant that the older cards, which included the University of Southampton student ID card, would not work with the new system leading to some controversy among the student population. Routes Current Uni-link operates four routes: U1, U2, U6 and U9. All routes run through the Uni-link interchange at Highfield campus to allow easier changing between services. The Interchange was refurbished in 2010 and opened on 21 September that year with an improved layout and facilities. *'U1': National Oceanography Centre – Town Quay – West Quay shopping centre – Southampton Central railway station – Civic Centre – London Road – The Avenue – Winn Road – Portswood – Highfield Campus and the Interchange – Burgess Road – Wessex Lane for halls – Wide Lane university sports ground – Southampton Airport. On the route, the U1A goes in the direction of the Airport and the U1C goes in the direction of the City. There is also a U1E service that heads to the Airport but then carries on into Eastleigh. This route runs every 10 minutes during weekday daytimes, reducing to 15 minutes during Saturday and Sunday daytimes and to every 20 minutes during evenings. The service also has an hourly Friday and Saturday nightbus service, called the U1N, that runs a slightly different route to avoid residential areas. *'U2': Civic Centre- London Road – The Avenue – Avenue Campus – Boldrewood Campus – Highfield Campus and the Interchange – Glen Eyre Halls – Basset Green for Bencraft Halls and Crematorium. On the route, the U2B goes to Basset Green while the U2C goes towards the Civic Centre. The route of the U2C varies from that of the U2B above in that it does not visit Avenue Campus, and instead goes straight down the Avenue from Boldrewood to London Road, and that it does not take the same route back to Glen Eyre, instead taking a route via Basset Avenue. This route runs every 30 minutes during University weekdays, on Saturday and Sunday morning, reducing to every 60 minutes during University vacations and Sunday evenings. *'U6': National Oceanography Centre – Town Quay – West Quay shopping centre – Civic Centre – Southampton Solent University – Royal South Hants Hospital – Portswood – High Road/Woodmill Lane for Wessex Lane Halls – Highfield Campus and the Interchange – Boldrewood Campus – Southampton General Hospital. On this route, the U6H goes towards the Hospital while the U6C heads towards the City. The route runs every 20 minutes during weekday and Saturday daytimes and reduced to every 60 minutes at evenings and on Sundays. *'U9':Southampton General Hospital – Shirley – Wilton Road – Richard Taunton Sixth Form College – Boldrewood Campus – Highfield Campus and the Interchange – Portswood – Bitterne Park Triangle – Oaktree Road – Townhill Park. The route loops around Bitterne Park and Townhill Park and so serves a larger part of the area. The service only runs three times a day with two services running from Townhill Park to the General Hospital and one returning. Previous routes First *'101' – This route ran a route similar to that used by the several of today's services. The route ran between Southampton Airport Parkway railway station and the Southampton Oceanography Centre. The route taken between the Airport and Portswood is the same as that taken by the U1 today and the route south of Portswood to the Royal South Hants Hospital is that taken by the U6 today. From there, the route diverged towards First's bus stops near to the Bargate in the city before heading through the old town to the SOC. *'102/103' – This route ran the route of the current day U2 but also visited Southampton Central railway station, the Coach station, the Red Funnel ferry terminal at Town Quay and the Southampton Oceanography Centre. The 102 was the route towards the City while the 103 headed north to the university. The route also had an attached shuttle bus between highfield Campus, Avenue Campus and New College. *'104/105' – A nighttime service that served many of Southampton's nightlife hotspots, pubs and entertainment venues. The 104's route mirrored that used by the 101 and the 105 mirrored the 102. The service ran every evening from Wednesday to Saturday. Accord The routes used by Accord vary from those used today in several ways. *'U1' – When the service launched in 2001 the route taken by the service varied from that used today and had various end points and destinations. All U1 buses ran between Highfield Campus, Portswood, the Royal South Hants Hospital and the Southampton Institute (now Southampton Solent University). However the route would differ from these points north and south of this route. At Highfield, services would separate with U1H service going to Southampton General Hospital, U1W services going to Wide Lane sports ground and Southampton Airport Parkway railway station and the U1E services going to Eastleigh. Equally, at the Southampton Institute, southbound U1 services would diverge with U1D services heading to the Docks and the Southampton Oceanography Centre via the Civic Centre, West Quay shopping centre and Town Quay, while the U1M would also head to the Docks and the SOC but would go via the Marsh Lane halls of residence and Ocean Village. *'U2' – When the service launched in 2001, like the U1, the service used various different destinations. The service would always run between the Civic Centre, the Southampton Institute, Dorset Street, The Avenue for New College, Avenue Campus, Boldrewood Campus and Highfield Campus. The routes do however diverse from these points. North of Highfield, the U2H runs to the Hospital, the U2W to Wessex Lane Halls, the U2B to Bencraft hall, the U2G to Glen Eyre halls, the U2S to Wellington Sports ground and the occasional U2N service to Winchester School of Art. South of the Civic Centre, the U2R ceases at Southampton Central railway station while the U2D carries onto the Docks and the SOC via the Coach Station and Town Quay. *'U9' – The service was introduced in September 2004 and ran to the present route with the exception that the service did not originally finish at Southampton General Hospital but instead ran to Shirley in a loop. It changed to its current route c.2006. The service also ran at a normal frequency rather than the current service. *'U20' – Ran between Marsh Lane halls, Bargate and West Quay shopping station, the Civic Centre, the Southampton Institute, Dorset Street, The Avenue for New College, Portswood, Highfield Campus, Swaythling, Wessex Lane Halls, Wide Lane and Southampton Airport Parkway railway station with some services also stopping at Mansbridge. The route was discontinued c. January 2002. *'U3' – Introduced at the beginning of 2002 and discontinued by September of that year the route served the SOC, Town Quay, the Civic Centre, the Southampton Institute, Portswood, Highfield Campus, Boldrewood Campus and Bencraft hall of residence. *'U4' – Introduced in late 2003, this originally ran as a shuttle service between Wessex Lane Halls and Highfield Campus in between the scheduled services of the U1 and the U6 in the morning rush hour. The service was later extended so that it ran to Southampton Central railway station by following the route of the U2 between Highfield and the Station during term times. However, improvements in the U1 and U6 service removed the need for this additional service and it was discontinued. *'U7' – This service ran on Tuesday and Thursday evenings to the Sainsbury's superstore in Hedge End. These few services ran alternately from the main halls of residences and the Highfield campus before going to the store. The service started in September 2001 and terminated c.February 2004. *'U8' – The service ran every weekday evening during term time and Thursday evenings during vacations and ran a route linking all of the halls of residences before continuing to the Asda in Chandler's Ford. Originally called the U2A between 2001 and 2003, its name changed to U8 in 2004. *'U10' – The service ran from the halls and the University in the north to Southampton Central railway station via Wessex Lane, Portswood, the Avenue and St. Mary's. There was only one service a day, running to the station in the morning and back at midday, and only operated on Sundays during term time between 2002 and 2003. *'City-link' – A free shuttle bus that ran in the City Centre between Southampton Central railway station, Marlands Shopping Centre, West Quay shopping centre and the Red Funnel ferry terminals on Town Quay. This service, funded by West Quay, Red Funnel, South West Trains and Southampton City Council, was awarded to Accord in a five-year deal. When Accord lost the Uni-link contract, Bluestar agreed to continue the contract separate from the Uni-link operation. *'Trial Glen Eyre shuttle' – A brief trial service that ran between Glen Eyre halls and Highfield interchange to take some pressure off of the U2. The trial ended in 2007. Fleet Current Uni-link's current fleet is primarily made up of around twenty Alexander Dennis Enviro400 double decker buses. These went into service on 3 September 2013 and feature a livery of sea blue and turquoise with the University logo at the front and the Unilink logo at the back. They replace the double decker fleet used previously and is used on all routes except the U2. The U2 route is served by two Scania OmniCitys repainted in the new livery and two new Wright Eclipse buses introduced a few weeks later. Bluestar 2008–2013 in the 2008 livery. These buses were used extensively by Uni-link on the U2, U6 and U9 routes.]] For the first five years, Bluestar's buses used for the Uni-link service were * 9 Double-deck Scania OmniCity buses purchased by Bluestar prior to taking over the contract in September 2008.Post image – Photo showing new OmniCitys on delivery Accessed 26 September 2008.Post image – Photo showing new OmniCity on delivery Accessed September 2008. * 12 Single-deck Scania OmniCity buses. Of the twelve, nine were new purchases in September 2008, one was inherited by Bluestar from Minerva Accord and two were purchased in 2011. The ex-Accord bus is distinctive in its differing interior decoration and seat design. * 4 Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President double decker buses, formerly of London General. * 1 East Lancashire-bodied Scania OmniDekka double decker bus. This is painted in a special Bluestar/Uni-link hybrid livery with the intention that the bus could be used on both routes, however it is used almost solely by Bluestar at present. All vehicles carried the same livery of white and light blue, matching the University's current corporate colour scheme. All buses carried the University logo at the rear with the Uni-link logo on white at the front. Accord /Caetano Nimbus bus used by Accord in the launch livery.]] fleet and repainted in a special Bluestar/Uni-link hybrid livery.]] Whilst Minvera Accord was running the service, the fleet contained the following. *9 Caetano Nimbus-bodied Dennis Dart SLF single decker buses purchased in December 2001 to replace the leased fleet. *1 MCV Evolution single decker bus, brought into the fleet in April 2007. *5 East Lancashire-bodied Scania OmniDekka double decker buses. Four were purchased in 2004 and another in 2005 to relieve congestion on the U1 route. *1 Scania OmniCity single decker bus. This bus stayed with Uni-link following the transition. *1 Alexander Dennis Enviro300 single decker bus, it entered service in September 2005. *2 East Lancashire Myllennium-bodied Alexander Dennis Dart SLF single decker buses. These buses were purchased following the award of the City-link shuttle contract to the company. *2 Mercedes-Benz Citaro single decker buses. These were on long term lease from Wilts & Dorset and were to leased to relieve congestion on the U1. At the beginning, several other buses of varying makes and models were used that were leased from various sources. See also *List of bus operators of the United Kingdom *University of Southampton References External links * Uni-link official site * University of Southampton Transport site Category:Transport in Southampton Category:Bus operators in Hampshire Category:University of Southampton Category:Bus operators in England